With the end of the post-Brexit transition period on January 31, the UK is no longer required by EU laws to impose a minimum 5% tax on hygienic products.
Le Monde avec AFP
The abolition of VAT on tampons and sanitary napkins comes into force, Friday 1 st January, in the United Kingdom, the government stressing that the measure is made possible by the country’s exit from the European Union (EU).
With the expiration of With the transition period following Brexit on January 31, the UK is no longer required by EU laws to impose a minimum 5% tax on hygiene products.
“I am proud that today we are keeping our promise to remove the tax on tampons. Hygienic products are essential, so it is okay not to charge VAT,” Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. , that i announced the measure in its budget in March.
During Wednesday debates in Parliament on the trade deal post Brexit, Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin stressed that the government “will be able to do things like abolish the stamp tax, for which so many opposition MPs have criticized the government, only because we are leaving the EU”.
Free in Scotland
Felicia Willow, executive director of the Fawcett Society, a women’s rights society, welcomed the change. “It’s been a long road to get there, but the sexist tax that saw hygiene products classified as luxury, non-essentials, may finally be relegated to the history books,” she said.
The finance ministry estimated that eliminating VAT would save a woman around 40 pounds (45 euros) over her lifetime. Periodic protections have already been distributed in public schools and universities in the UK for a year and to patients who need them in public hospitals. Scotland went further in November, with MPs passing a law allowing free access to sanitary protection, a world first on this scale.